To Goldilocks and Beyond!

To Grandma's dying day, my mom never had the "umph" to forgive her for her Goldilocks curls. Mom being born during the Shirley Temple movie heydays, Grandma never sent mom to school without a glorious mop of curls. The curls might have looked cute on a munchkin, but on a high schooler …? Unfortunately for mom, Grandma couldn't see beyond the cuteness of the curls, so mom--mom withered under the odd looks she got at school from her classmates.

All that to say, Grandma wasn't perfect--but that doesn't detract from the things she DID get right! As in, how to pray for a hubby …

After my reconnection with God in my teens, you could have blown me over with a feather when Grandma actually broached the subject about how to pray for a mate. My mother's contemptuous depiction of how Grandma had treated her as a young lady-- torturing her with curls, for goodness sake!--had colored my perception of Grandma. Yes, I respected her as a woman who loved God, but practical matters of everyday life? Those, I thought, were not her forte.

I am SO glad Grandma proved me wrong!

Arching her brow at me, Grandma challenged me with, "What? Don't you think I know it's normal for a young lady to have feelings for a young man?" Grandma looked down at the clothes she was folding and continued.

"Such feelings are normal. God made girls and boys to like each other. But you don't want to go by your feelings. Your feelings could steer you wrong. What you want to do is weed out the boys who are NOT from God so that you can know which fellow IS from Him."

Taking in my thoroughly flummoxed demeanor, Grandma put the clothes down and looked at me intently. "Remember how Abraham sacrificed Isaac on the altar?"

"Yeeeesssss …" My drawn out answer reflected the delay in my understanding. How was this story related to husband material?

"Paul talks about presenting our bodies to God in a similar fashion." That would be Romans 12:1, in case you are wondering. "Not literally of course, but in our prayer life. Our emotions, our yearnings, should be put on the altar of sacrifice. We want what God wants for our lives, don't we?" I nodded my head vigorously. Of course!

"There is another scripture to pray when you lay your feelings on the altar. Jesus said, 'Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.''' (Matthew 18:18) "So after you lay your feelings on the altar, you pray, 'Lord, You said that whatever I bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever I loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. If these feelings are from You, I bless them to strengthen and prosper but if they are NOT from You, I bind them and break them in Your Name, that they come to nothing.'"

I was SO glad Grandma shared this nugget of spiritual wisdom with me! It came at an opportune time, just as I was on the verge of going to work with my Auntie Trinie in Mexico. At her side I ended up meeting many wonderful young men who loved the Lord. I learned that while some girls might be attracted to physical attributes or personality traits, my weakness was a love for the Lord. If I heard a young man preach God's word with anointing, many where the times my knees would just turn to jelly. But I was faithful to put Grandma's instructions to the test--and they worked every time.

I remember one time I was walking under a tree in the churchyard in Cuernavaca and it felt like something in my heart went "click" like when you turn a button on an old fashioned radio off. And in that very instant all the feelings I harbored for a certain young man from the States who made frequent mission trips to our area went by-by. Just like that. And, wouldn't you know it? The next time I saw the young man, it happened to be in Mexico City, I blinked in amazement--though I did try to keep a poker face, I didn't want to hurt him. But he was changed. He was no longer the young man I had initially felt attracted to. Now he was more--would worldly be the word? Kind of more interested in superficial things. I had no way of knowing how he was changing while we were apart, but God knew. And God faithfully guided my heart (not that anything might have come of it, but I appreciate God helping me heart-wise).

We don't know the future. People change. But God can guard your heart and guide you so that you don't link your life to that of a spouse who is going to change for the worse down the road!

Fast forward a few years and not only am I grateful for Grandma's teaching with regard to hearts and husbands, but (slow learner here, people) the Lord showed me how I could extrapolate this sacrifice of one's feelings to more than just marriage material!

I guess it's safe to say that for a few years now I have been actively tortured by things I want to do for my children and grandchildren--but don't have the wherewithal to. I am talking heavy duty tears and seeking the Lord here. Then one night, the Holy Spirit nudges me. "Why don't you put those feelings on the altar?"

Huh?

So, Little Ms. Slow Learner puts those torturous feelings on the altar and --voilá--NO MORE TEARS! THE TORTURE IS GONE! I AM FREE!!!!! I am flooded with this amazing revelation that it's not MY job to worry about getting those things for my family! I pray, lay them on the altar, and those problems become GOD'S!!!!

My new mantra? Matthew 11:29-30.

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Now I pray, "Jesus, I take Your yoke on me and I give You my desires. They are YOUR problems now. If it's Your will for my children and grandchildren to have those things, it's up to You. I lay all those desires at Your feet."

Knowing this truth will set you free indeed (John 8:32)!

Goldilocks curls notwithstanding, I say with all my heart, "Go, Grandma!"